Sveigakot Midden Unit M Report 2001

The 2001 summer season saw the conclusion of intensive excavation of the midden unit M opened in 1999. The unit has produced a very substantial collection of well preserved animal bone, , and over 75 registered artifacts of the Viking period. The final season involved the excavation of a major western extension of the original unit in order to trace more early “lower midden” material below the 007 tephra, and some renewed work along the edges of the eastern squares first opened in 1999. This work recovered useful quantities of bone from both areas and a range of additional artifacts, as well as an enigmatic pit structure in the W extension. A pattern of six test pits spaced approx 5 m apart in the area between M and the structure unit S found very little midden material in this area, but a seventh pit (Unit P) revealed a sequence of low density midden, turf collapse, and an apparent floor layer. While a great deal more remains to be done with the archaeology of Sveigakot, it appears that the great bulk of the stratified midden has been cleared and priority can be iven to open area work aimed primarily at structural investigations.

Archaeology Iceland midden Mývatnssveit Sveigakot Viking Age

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